On Thursday Star Trek Into Darkness has its world premiere in London – with a press event over the weekend. TrekMovie will be there. We also want to give fans a chance to ask JJ Abrams and his cast a question. Details below.

Ask JJ Abrams and the stars of Star Trek Into Darkness a question

TrekMovie is offering fans a chance to get their question asked at the Star Trek Into Darkness World Premiere and junket in London this weekend. TrekMovie will be conducting interviews with:

JJ Abrams

Chris Pine

Zachary Quinto

Benedict Cumberbatch

Zoe Saldana

Karl Urban

Simon Pegg

John Cho

Alice Eve

TrekMovie will pick one fan-submitted question for each interview.

How to submit questions

You can type your questions into the comments below. You can suggest one question for each person listed above (so up to nine total questions for each fan submission). Format your questions thusly:

Q FOR [CELEB NAME]

[Your Question]

- [Your First Name + City, State (or Country)]

Please focus your questions on things related to Star Trek and avoid any major spoilers.

Questions must be submitted by midnight Thursday at noon (Pacific Time).

Comments

Brent Spiner shared in an interview that you approached him and Patrick Stewart at a restuarant asking if taking the role in STID would affect your career positively or negatively. Do you feel like you have found an answer at this point?

You did a lot of the VO work for most of the trailers and Viral video’s that went out. Did they approach you for this early on – and how do you feel about having played such an important part in the promo of the film?

It seems to me that a trilogy or three is the magic number for many of the recent or most successful movie series such as Batman/The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Lord of the Rings, Toy Story, The Matrix, X-Men, Spider-Man, etc., with some minor exceptions to the rule.

And with the last of the trilogy made and their three-film contractual obligations are over, the actors who are now infused with their iconic characters appear to hang them up and walk away without looking back.

What can we do to make sure that Star Trek will not follow the same pattern?

You mentioned that a major reason you decided to read for the role of John Harrison is because you wanted to work with JJ Abrams. Assuming that you had a basic description of the Harrison character, what role did that information play in your decision to audition for the part?

Q FOR JOHN CHO

How has Sulu’s role and function within the crew dynamic developed since the last film and where do you see it eventually going?

The music in your Star Trek films has had, at times, homages from the old scores (namely Alexander Courage’s theme from TOS). However the music is mainly new and noticeably has no hint of the fanfare from The Motion Picture (which, along with the TOS theme, has come to represent the franchise). Was it a conscious decision to exclude most all musical elements from previous franchise installments in your new movies to give it a unique feel? Did you ever consider including elements other than Courage’s TOS theme?

While there are many who appreciate JJ Abrams and his Supreme Court breathing new life into Star Trek for the big screen again (such as myself), there have always been those die-hard yesteryear fans of TOS/TMP and TNG that screamed blasphemy from blog sites such as TrekMovie.com and from their various social networks. They’ve been critical of everything from the starships to the storylines to the casting.

What is your most memorable insult or critique (of yourself, if possible, or of the “new” Star Trek), and how do you react or respond to it?

You once said you enjoyed working out to play John Harrison. How different was the work out routine, in preparation for the character, from your own? (if you find the time in your schedule to do any work out at all, I mean)

No question, I just think you’re stunningly beautiful. And you seem to be genuinely enjoying your time promoting this Star Trek movie and going through the publicity tour like a real professional. I hope you continue to find more success, Hollywood could use more sincere and passionate actresses like you.

You starred in several high profile sci-fi movies, and continue to do so with Avater 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy. What is it about the genre that draws you to these roles? How do you feel about your status as a geek pin-up girl?

Given the iconic status of the role of Spock, your status as a proudly out gay man, and that Newsweek article from a few years back which theorized that ‘gay actors cannot convincingly play straight roles’, have you had any trouble or problems with homophobia from critics or fans, given your romantic role with Uhura?

Q for JJ Abrams:
how did you balance the movie from something being rebooted to something fresh in terms of your target audience?

Q for Chris Pine:
Given the alternate universe from ST09, what is the future for Kirk and Uhura? Still interested?

Q for Benedict Cumberbach:
From being sherlock to john harrison of STID, what will be the key ingredient in this mysterious character that will definitely linger into our minds as we journey into darkness?

Hello. Have you all grew up on the ENTIRE CBS-owned “Star Trek” franchise (not just the original series that aired on the “Tiffany Network’s” rival “Peacock Network” NBC, but also the animated series, “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Voyager,” “Enterprise,” and the first ten motion pictures–produced by Paramount Pictures–with both the original cast and the “Next Gen” cast)? Of course, I cannot blame J.J. Abrams for being a fan of just the Disney/Lucasflim-owned “Star Wars,” since I, myself, grew up on both “Trek” and “Wars.” LOL.

Q – for JJ Abrams. What made this story the one that was chosen for the movie over the other ideas? ie was it always a clear choice or were there two or more story ideas in contention before the final decision was made?

You’ve mentioned that John Harrison is a one man weapon of mass destruction who does terrible things but he has a reason. Did you find playing him difficult or even emotionally traumatic at times, or were you able to keep yourself distanced and switch off at the end of the day’s filming.

It must be overwhelming seeing yourself around London everywhere, what’s your opinion on being in such a big production with their own huge merchandise with the risk of getting your face on lunch boxes, a thing you once said not to desire?

BO-RING!!!! Why particpate in a Q&A with Abrams? We get our questions answered by Bob Orci all the time, because Trekmovie.com and it’s forum posters are so awesome, Trek Brass come around and hang out with us.

After working on Star Trek for two films now, you have successfully expanded the fanbase from Trekkies to general movie fans. With this new fanbase in mind, where do you see the future of Star Trek going beyond this prequel / reboot trilogy?

When preparing for the role of Spock in this film, did you keep up with and take into account all (or some) of the events which occurred to the character in the Star Trek Ongoing / Countdown To Darkness comic books?

Prior to working on Star Trek, it seems most of your work was outside of the Sci-Fi genre. How do you see Star Trek affecting your long term acting career? Do you see more Sci-Fi projects in your future?

Q for Zach
-What is Spock’s most endearing trait?
Q for Chris
-What’s the most important thing that you have gained/learned from playing Kirk?
Q for Karl
-What is Bones’ most important quality and how does that play into his friendship with Kirk?

What would it take to work on the next film with such a talented group of people. I’ve worked on other Star Trek films and TV show in the past starting with doing the promotional work for Paramount for STII:TWK and STIII:TSFS. I then did some PA work on STIV:TVH and ST:TNG and ST:DS9

Q for JJ Abrams:
As a director, how difficult is it to balance the story you want to tell and yet making it accessible to get a PG-13 rating so as not to hurt sales?

Q for Chris Pine:
As the ‘Hero’ of the story, what is the message behind your portrayal of Kirk? What are you trying to tell people?

Q for Zachary Quito:
What is the most fun part of having played a character like Spock away from the set?

Q for Benedict Cumberbatch:
Do you notice any similarities or interesting differences between the Star Trek fans and the Sherlock and Cabin Pressure fans?

Q for Zoë Saldana:
Do you get much say about your characters development during production?

Q for Karl Urban:
What was it like to have an action figure of yourself in the last movie? And are you in the least bit disappointed that there are no action figures for this movie?

Q for Simon Pegg:
Patrick Stewart really pushed for the quality of the scripts when making the Next Generation, and they strived to be taken seriously, as a geek scholar what does your new take on Star Trek strive to do?

Q for John Cho:
After Sulu was made captain in the Star Trek 6, with his own ship, Mr Takei stated that he had wanted to do a spin off show about him on his ship, do you have any such Star Trek ambitions?

Q for Alice Eve:
Most of the other actors in the film had the chance to speak to the actors who portrayed their characters previously, sadly Ms Besch past away, what questions would you have had asked her had you had the chance?

Now that it’s common knowledge that you were set up on the last day of filming by Mr Pegg and Mr Pine would you like some suggestions on how to prank Simon and Chris for Star Trek 3 or do you have something in mind?

@81 – Stars should start arriving at the London premiere around 5-5:30 pm if they follow the usual trend.

Both Chris Pine and Benedict Cumberbatch will be recording their appearance on the Graham Norton show that same evening so they won’t have much time to spend on the red carpet. Taping for GN starts around 7pm, I think. (I’m not Anthony, but I hope that helps.)

As a fan who, over the years, has suffered from the ‘Geeky’ label attached to Trekkers, I’d like to thank you for perhaps your greatest achievement, that of making Star Trek COOL, and ask – how did you do that!?

Have there been any talks about releasing director’s cut editions when the trilogy is completed? Furthermore, if you were the only person who would had a say on this matter would you yourself be interested in releasing DC editions of the films?

Q FOR Alice Eve

What were your initial thoughts when you heard that you got the part to play Carol Marcus? Did the Star Trek franchise whith it’s almost 50 years of history and (critical) fans scare you a bit?

I understand you were a Star Wars fan before. What was your impression about the prequels stating that midichlorians were the source of the force instead of the energy field that gives the Jedi his strength?

Why are you premiering an American franchise overseas? Why do we original fans have to suffer the long wait and trying to avoid spoilers when the rest of the world gets to see something which started in the States in the first place?

We all know that Star Trek 11 is an alternate reality that parallels the original, and even then the original has other alternate realities that parallels that. But if you had an opportunity to do an actual reboot, like Battlestar Galactica or the Christopher Nolan Batman series, how would you do it and what inspiration would you use?

Q FOR Chris Pine
What part of your own personality have you added to Kirk’s persona?
– Paul Paducah, KY

Q FOR Zachary Quinto
How do you manage the challenges of emotionally restrained acting while still showing that Spock is coming to grips with the inner tug-of-war between his human and Vulcan halves? Bravo, by the way.
– Paul Paducah, KY

Q FOR Benedict Cumberbatch
How did you tweak the villain’s character, as written on paper, to make the role your own?
– Paul Paducah, KY

Q FOR Zoe Saldana
Do you feel the role of Uhura still has social impact for women?
– Paul Paducah, KY

Q FOR Karl Urban
Your portrayal of Dr. McCoy is a spot-on tribute. That being said, how does your McCoy differ from that of DeForest Kelley’s?
– Paul Paducah, KY

I first must begin by thanking you for your efforts. I first got to look at your film, as a russian bootleg that some pilot from the Airwing ‘aquired’ during our 2009 cruise (For the record, i’m not 100% sure about the exact source. it looked better when i watched the film at the Norfolk Base Cinema, when we got back that summer). Now a lot of people seem to be worried about your upcoming choices for, ahem, employment. Do you feel confident that you can still be able to produce a quality product, with the same technical touch of success, that you enjoyed when you previously did with Cloverfield-Trek-Super-8? and are you prepared to deal with the childhood-eating machine known as Dysney?

Many people were obviously unsatisfied with the Star Wars prequels. What do you feel was missing from the prequels that failed to live up to the original trilogy and how are you planning on avoiding those missteps in your own contribution to the Star Wars universe?

In the extras to the last movie, you wore an INFOCOM shirt, with the logo of the beloved 1980s adventure game company. What was your favorite Infocom game and was the escape pod scene in Planetfall an influence on the one in Trek?

Mr Abrams: will you include the extra 20 minutes or so of scenes on the DVD that you deleted from the movie to shorten running time [I hope so]?

Mr Pine: What muscle groups do you use most in exercising Kirk’s “superpower” of dangling off cliffs, platforms, etc.?

Mr Cumberbatch: I admire your stillness and sense of command of self you bring to Harrison – a big part of that is your penetrating gaze and WOW, your voice. What to you is the MOST important aspect of movie acting?

Ms Eve: I’m impressed by your depth of research into Trek – would you say you’ve become rather a fan?

Ms Saldana: You are in absolutely beautiful shape, but do you think Uhura’s wearing such a tiny minidress is kind of silly, especially if she’s going into action?

Mr Quinto: I had the pleasure of seeing you in Angels in America. Michael Caine said that the center of a movie actor’s performance is his eyes. I definitely see that in your Spock. Does BODY language account for as much in Spock’s characterization as it does in characters you play on stage?

Mr Urban: I absolutely love your McCoy. Which of these aspects of his character do you enjoy portraying most: Maturity in relation to other characters? Debating Spock? Sarcasm? Humanity and Compassion? Crankiness?

Mr Pegg: have you ever geekily argued about Star Trek technology with other fans, like how the Enterprise looks, Engineering, or ST Technology in general?

Mr Cho: What’s your favorite aspect of playing Sulu, being on the Bridge and using that cool speedboat accelerator for warp, talking technobabble, or how COOL Sulu is?

Chris when the producers finally allowed you read the script and you arrived at those scenes with wetsuit or in bed with feline women with tail … Which was your first reaction? were you able to be cerebral and analytical about that?

Question for cast: even though you kind of knew what you were getting yourselves into, were you prepared for the fandom aspect of Trek (I ask this after watching the Berlin premier & seeing the size of the crowd).

Only one question for each of the cast members? Truly? There are just so many really good questions. Why can’t all the questions put to the individuals be collated and given to each to answer? Perhaps each person could have his/her own thread here where they can answer each question, even if the answer is Pass or I don’t know.

I realize that these people are busy, but even so, this could be a wonderful, lovely opportunity to be had by all…

I would love to get the stars to answer all the questions, but i am only allotted so much time with each and I am allocating a part of my time for one fan question per interview. These questions aren’t a separate thing on top of my regular interview times. So there is only so much time to go around.

One of the fun parallels, that I see, between you and William Shatner’s portrayal of Kirk, is your comic timing. You both seem to walk that tightrope of drama and comedy with ease. Do you prefer one over the other or do you prefer films that strike that happy medium?

I’m loving the new Star Trek video game, in part due to your lending your vocal talents to the game and bringing your CGI character to life. Logistically, it seems to be a pretty easy gig, would you ever consider lending your voice to a CGI or animated version of Star Trek, should such an idea ever make its way to the front burner? thanks

I do understand, but given that interviews with actors and creators about their projects tend to be repetitive, will you please try ask really good expansive questions, that perhaps haven’t been posed fifty times to them already??

I know you’re long-term star trek fan. (also super geek!!) Mr. pine said that last time you bringed the enterprise model in the world premiere 2009, and destroyed it!(lol) So,Just out of curiosity, you bring it again or bring something else in this premiere? :)

There were a lot of aesthetic changes made between the TOS Star Trek and your Star Trek. Which of those changes do you think were the least well-received, and do you wish you had done them differently?

Q FOR Chris Pine

Was there ever talk of giving you contact lenses to match William Shatner’s eye color? It would have made it easier to see you as a younger version of the same person.

Q FOR Zoe Saldana

It seems like your character is the most different from the TOS counterpart. Do you see it that way, or do you think your Uhura will still one day become the classic Uhura?

Q FOR Simon Pegg

It seems like the new Scotty is a lot more of a comedic character than the old one was. How much of that is your influence. and how much is the writing?

Chris Pine: William Shatner always wished that Captain Kirk had died in a heroic fashion in ‘Star Trek: Generations’, how would you like your Captain Kirk to bow out in the future?

Karl Urban: I would like to say firstly that I feel your portrayal of Doctor McCoy was absolutely incredible, and that DeForest Kelley would be very proud of you if he was still with us. If he was still with us and sat next to you in the cinema watching the movie, and you could ask him at the end of the movie “Did I get this part right?”, what part would that be?

Benedict Cumberbatch: I am about to begin my Drama School training in London in September, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art to be precise (where you trained to be an actor), are there any tips or important pieces of advice you could give me? Any would be appreciated.

we often hear you profess your love for Twilight Zone and Star Wars, and that you were never really much of a fan of star trek, but cmon dude you mustve dug The Wrath of Khan back in 82 right? that film was like THE best movie of the entire 80s!

You’re going to be starring as some very iconic villains this year. One of course being John Harrison in “Star Trek Into Darkness” and later this year you’ll reprise in the second “Hobbit” film, “The Desolation of Smaug” as the Necromancer and Smaug. Any plans for returning to New Zealand with the rest of the “Hobbit” cast for summer pick-ups?

Star Trek has been the forerunner of things like the cell phone, the tablet, the external memory and biometrics, among others. Did you see in the new JJ movie a brilliant device that perhaps will become as iconic to our pop culture in the not so distant future?
Thanks and congratulations on your professionalism.

This is really more of a question for the writers – but how much research did you and/or the writers do in real world science, such as astrophysics, quantum physics, astronomy, biology, botany, zoology…? How much of the science-fiction in this movie is based on what is now known, theorized, projected by the scientific community?

I know you’ve said you were always more of a star wars guy but were the original cast Trek films abit of a big deal to you back in the 80s? after all they shared abit in common with the SW films at the time – ILM, ‘Vengence’ of Khan had to change its title due to ‘Revenge’ of the Jedi the following year etc

If you could have breakfast, lunch and then supper each with a different person who would they be… And please could you say that salvete (Latin) is plural and cannot be used in reply to a greeting of salve as my friend always does as it is infuriating when my friend does this…

I love your team’s team on Trek and can’t wait for Into Darkness; it’s great to see Star Trek’s “cache” with mainstream audiences increase so much over the past several years. I do, however, miss the quieter, “morality play” style of the Trek I grew up with in the 90’s and beyond. My question: Do you think that style of Trek could succeed in today’s marketplace? If so, what would need to happen to make it successful, or if not, why not?

Q for Chris:

Kirk is a natural leader and certainly a character of almost absurd confidence. How much do you find yourself similar to him, and what if him, if anything, are you able to incorporate into your own life and career? And if you had any advice for Kirk, what would it be? (aside from tell him that dangling from platforms is tough on the joints)

Q for Zachary:

A bit of a silly question: of the main cast, you’re the only “alien” and have to deal with the resulting makeup. If you had to update one element of Spock’s appearance while still hopefully maintaining his quentessential (Spockiness), what would it be, and why?

Q for Zoe:

You’ve acheived a great deal of success by embracing roles in science fiction, including Trek, something many actors express reservations over. Why aren’t you afraid of sci-fi, and what words of advice would you give actors who aren’t completely sold on performing in genre tv/film?

Any chance that the movie after ‘Into Darkness’ will allow the timeline to be reset or corrected for future movies/tv series? I see why you went the alternate timeline route originally, however there are still many great stories left to tell in the original universe. It would be nice to know what happened after Deep Space Nine/Voyager/Nemesis, or between Enterprise/The Original Series, and between the Undiscovered Country/Next Generation..